The Fantastic Journey

Watched entire series during the first week of Sept/2022.

Loved it! Good stories, serious tone (in a 1970s family drama way). I think it stands the test of time and viewable today. I found it interesting that a few episodes had a Star Trek: TOS feel to them (maybe this was D. C. Fontana's influence).

If you decide to watch and find you enjoyed this, I highly recommend Dimensione Alfa (1985). The thematic setting, serious tone and character styles are similar enough... with 'Otherworld' feeling more modern (1977 vs 1985).

Sometimes you watch an older series and think... these guys really seemed to want to produce something good. Today... sometimes it feels like - these guys were in a hurry to make some money and to move on to their next project as quickly as possible.

'The Fantastic Journey' is old school. They were focused on creating the best series they could.

Tip: The entire 10-episode series is available on YouTube for free.

8 stars for nostalgia. For some reason the carnival episode of this show locked in my mind from when I was a very young child, and I finally decided to watch the whole series on youtube of all places. I always was a fan of Roddy McDowells. So I can see why this show didnt make it. For one they had to do a lot of location shooting and redesign sets every week, thats expensive. Second it was rushed, they didnt have the characters flushed out and end up dumping 3 immediately. (One only screamed all the time anyways LOL). 3RD SPFX cost something , while limited on this show, they were there.

But if it had made it, it could have developed some really good episodes I am sure. Each weak everthing but the 5 main characters changes. You can have aliens from other worlds, people from any time in history, the premise is wild. Its basically a blank sheet for any story you want to tell. With DC Fontana as story efitor, no doubt there would have been some good ones. But alas it was not meant to be. These shows need to find their feet and there was no time. Might show up in a reboot someday though...who knows??

I was a major fan of this show in the '70s, as an 11 yr. old. After only catching a few episodes, suddenly the series disappeared, obviously cancelled. Luckily, I was able to trade for the complete series on VHS. After watching the whole series, and finally getting to see all the episodes. I can see why I was such a fan as a kid. Even though a lot of the look and style of the show is very dated and '70s looking, this series had the potential to be a good one. As an older viewer, some of the episodes are a little weak, but this series, had they spend a little more money on art direction and writing, had potential. Anyone thats a fan of '70s Sci-fi television, I think would enjoy this series.

This show has some striking similarities to other television shows, which did become successful series, Stargate SG-1 & Sliders. Moreover, the formats are quite similar as well: 1. The viewer "travels" with the hosts to different worlds.

2. All involve scientific experiments which produce danger.

3. Both Sliders and Fantastic Journey are about travel to parallel universes.

4. All three involve different planets accessible only to a select team.

5. Both Sliders and Fantastic Journey are about people trying to find their way home.

6. Both Fantastic Journey & Stargate SG-1 have an alien in the cast.

7. Both Fantastic Journey and Stargate SG-1 are scripted by Katharyn Powers.

8. All three shows have a movie actor in the cast who played a supporting role in a big picture but was never an outright "star".

So for those who would like to see Fantastic Journey on TV again, don't fret! Technically, it did come back, just in a different skin!

A group of boat castaways get lost in time or lost in vortex on a mysterious island.

The disco theme music gets ten out of ten. The pilot is well done. Note the music when the boat is sucked into the mysterious sea cloud. Note the photography in this opening scene. If only this level of film-like production remained for the whole ten episodes.

This series shined in the episode titled, Beyond The Mountain, this is the one where Roddy McDowall was introduced and he was a horrible guy at the start. He became nicer after this hour. Too bad the writers did not spend more time "beyond the mountain" as this setting was just so powerful, all thanks to the acting talents of McDowall.

Another episode about children making trouble for adults (Children of the Gods) was well done as well.

Towards the end the premise of a group of people appearing in some oddball zone (amusement park, weird house, etc) was starting to repeat itself too much. Go on this journey for McDowall's acting and shades of 60s Irwin Allen/60s Star Trek.